Redmond Asset Management LLC Makes New $809,000 Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Redmond Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $809,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 7,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $819,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 58,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,061,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 15,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $102.04 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $78.62 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $104.11 and a 200 day moving average of $107.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.